Balls in all their multitude of incarnations have been with us throughout history. Because of their continuing utility as a toy, balls have been the subject of a good deal of inventive activity. Much of this activity has been directed to creating balls that are easier for the user to catch.
One modification established in the prior art is a ball with extending filaments that may be grasped by the user. This variation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,529, "GENERALLY SPHERICAL OBJECT WITH FLOPPY FILAMENTS TO PROMOTE SURE CAPTURE", by Stillinger. The device comprises multiple filaments extending from a core. The filaments are designed and intended to thread their way through a user's fingers, and are not designed or intended to form loops which surround a user's fingers.
Another device with extending filaments is the "NOVELTY BALL" , U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,141, by Paranto. This device has a far less dense pattern of the tentacles, the tentacles being used chiefly to slow the travel of the ball.
The inventor of this device believes that one shortcoming in the prior art is that there is no device which would enable a very small child, or anyone else, to catch a ball without entrapping it within their hands.